Good defense isn’t enough to win in the NBA anymore
Defense wins championships. It’s a mantra every sports fan knows from the day they first enter the world of sports. Coaches preach it to young kids when they’re first learning the game. Old analysts say it on TV when talking about all time great teams. Defense is the identity every team aspires to have because it’s been proven time and time again that coming out on top on that side leads to victories.
No matter the sport — football, hockey, soccer and especially basketball — defense is where the game is truly won. Look at the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs, currently the two top ranked defenses in the NBA and two contenders for this year’s title.
However, they are actually the outlier. Below San Antonio and Golden State are the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks. All three are very good teams, but none of them would be considered title contenders. Below the top five are the Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers. Outside of the Clippers, the rest of those teams are not anywhere close to contenders.
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Honestly, in the grand scheme of this year’s NBA season, they lean more towards bad than good. It’s potentially a one year outlier, but it could mean something much more for the current state of NBA defense.
The current top ranked defense, the Spurs, are giving up 101 points per 100 possessions. They finished top of their class last season by giving up a measly 96.6 points per 100 possessions, and the Atlanta Hawks finished behind them giving up 98.8 points per 100 possession. This year’s Spurs team wouldn’t have even finished in the top five of defenses last year. Offenses are putting up more points than ever this season and it’s causing a major effect on what constitutes as a “good team.”
It used to be that as long as someone had a good defense it would be enough to carry them to a playoff spot. While that still holds some truth for the defenses at the very top, the rest of the NBA world is proving otherwise. The Heat were one of the worst teams in the league before a huge run in January pulled them to within shouting distance of the playoffs. The Hornets have currently lost 12 of 13 and are spinning out of control. The Pelicans just traded for DeMarcus Cousins and are hoping he’ll give them the push needed to grab the final playoff spot out west.
Meanwhile, offense is thriving in the way defense used to. The current top five offenses are the Warriors, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and Spurs. It’s no coincidence all of these teams are considered the best in their conference with the highest chance of winning a title. As the NBA stands right now, offense is easily beating defense.
It’s possible this is an outlier as a crazy season where everybody shoots better than they ever have before and defenses just can’t catch up, but what if it isn’t? What if being a good defense just isn’t good enough anymore? As teams try to adjust to the increased use of pick-and-roll, 3-pointers and an increase in pace, they’ve gone extremely conservative. So much so that the majority of defenses just look the same. When everybody plays the same style of defense, only the elite will truly find success while the rest are defeated by the absurd amount of points that are being put up.
Teams that used to rely on low scoring grind it out games with a mediocre offense now struggle, but it’s not as noticeable because it’s effecting the entire the NBA. Take the Hornets for example. It’s confusing as to why they should be losing as much as they are. Perhaps the reason is their super conservative defense just can’t contain the amount of points that are being put up at the moment. It’s been a philosophy they’ve ran with ever since Steve Clifford was hired — keep the opponent’s score low so the offense can do just enough to get by. However, Charlotte is currently giving up 104.5 points per 100 possession, which would’ve put them at 16th last season. This year it’s good enough for seventh. The system is doing what it needs to do by holding the offense to the lowest possible score they can muster, but with offenses scoring the way they have it’s become outdated.
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Being a good defense is not the standard for winning this year. Offense is the key. At the end of this season, the great offenses are going to come out on top with only a few of the very elite defenses coming with them. For this season, and perhaps the next few, offense wins championships.